Another Way
by SimplyBooks
Summary: My version of Twilight. Jasper/Bella. Enjoy.
1. First Sight

**This is my first try at fanfiction. It is an eventual Jasper/Bella story. The beginning is quite like Twilight, but it differs a bit. Please review and tell me what you think.**

Chapter 1. First Sight

My mother and stepfather drove me to the airport. The weather in Phoenix was perfect: seventy-five and cloudless. I had on my favorite t-shirt, white eyelet lace. It was my farewell gift to myself. The only thing I would carry on the place was a jacket.

In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under constant cover of clouds. It rains here more than any other place in the USA. My mother left this town with me in tow when I was only a few months old. I had been forced to spend a month there every summer until I was fourteen, when I started taking my vacations with my father in California.

I detested Forks. I loved Phoenix. But it was to Forks I went in order to give my mother some time alone with my stepfather. "Bella," she said to me. "You don't have to do this."

She looks like me, my mother, but her hair is shorter and she has laugh lines around her eyes and mouth. Our hair is brown, and so are our eyes. It was easy to see the family resemblance between us.

I didn't know how I would leave her all alone. Granted, she had Phil, my stepfather, so the bills would be paid, there would be gas in her car, and she'd have someone to call when she got lost, but I still worried.

"I want to go," I told her, almost believing my own lie after having said it so many times. I was a horrible liar, but my mom was even worse, so she couldn't see how much I wanted to stay.

"Tell Charlie I said hi."

"I will."

"I'll see you soon. You can come home any time you want; I'll come back as soon as you need me." I could see the sacrifice behind those words, and hated myself suddenly for thinking I could keep myself in Phoenix with her.

"Don't worry about me," I told her softly. "It'll be great. I love you."

She kissed my cheek and hugged me, I got on the plane, and she was gone.

It's a four hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive to FOrks. Flying doesn't bother me. THe hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was worried about.

Charlie seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming with intentions to stay. He'd gotten me registered in high school and promised to help me find a car. But it was sure to be awkward with him. Neither of us was a big talker, and I wouldn't have known what to say to him anyway. I knew he was confused about my reasons for coming to Forks; I hadn't made my hate for the town any secret.

When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. That's all it seemed to ever do. It wasn't an omen, just unavoidable. I'd already said goodbye to the sun.

Charlie was waiting for me with his police cruiser. He's known to the town of Forks as Police Chief Swan. I refused to be driven around the town in a car with red and blue lights on top, hence the reason for buying my own car despite my limited amount of money.

Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane. "It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he caught and steadied me when I tripped. "You haven't changed much. How's Renee?"

"Mom's fine. It's good to see you too, Dad." I had only a few things because most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington and Mom and I had only supplemented my winter wardrobe as much as our pooled resources would allow. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.

"I found a good car for you. Really cheap," Charlie announced when we were strapped in.

"What kind of car?"

"Well, it's a truck. A Chevy."

"Where'd you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black, down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.

"No."

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer?"

That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job at blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.

"He's in a wheelchair now, so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?" I could tell by the look on his face that he'd been hoping I wouldn't ask this question.

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine, so it's really only a few years old."

"When did he buy it?" I prompted. I wasn't giving up, and I hoped Charlie didn't think so little of me as to believe I would.

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

"New?"

"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties or late fifties at the earliest." He seemed sheepish about the whole thing.

"Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I can't afford a mechanic..."

"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore." The thing made it sound like the truck was named. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"How cheap is cheap," I asked, relenting a little. I couldn't compromise on price at all, so this was important.

"Well, Bells, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." He looked hopeful and yet embarrassed at the same time. Wow. It was free.

"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."

"I want you to be happy here, so I don't mind." He was looking out the windshield when he said it. He wasn't so comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud, which I'd inherited from him. So I was also looking straight ahead as I responded.

"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." There was no need to add that my being happy in Forks was impossible. He didn't need to suffer along with me. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth. Or engine.

"Well now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed.

We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much the extent of our conversation. We stared out the windows in silence for the rest of the trip.

It was beautiful; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered by ferns. Even the air looked green as it filtered through the trees.

It was too green. An alien planet.

Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the two bedroom house that he'd bought with my mim in the early days of their marriage. There, parked on the street in front of the house that had never changed, was my new truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To my intense surprise, I loved it. I didn't know if it would run, but I could definitely see myself in it. Plus, it was the kind of truck that never gets damaged, the kind you see at an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.

"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be that much less dreadful. I wouldn't be faced with the choice of walking to school in the inevitable wet or facing the embarrassment of asking Charlie for a ride.

"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.

It took only one trip for the both of us to get my things upstairs. The room I was in was familiar. It faced the front yard and had been mine since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtain around the window...all these were signed of my childhood. The only changed Charlie ever made were switching the crib for a bed as I grew older and adding a desk with a computer.

I would have to share the only bathroom in the house with Charlie. I wasn't looking forward to it.

One of the best things about Charlie is that he doesn't hover. He left me alone to get unpacked and settled, which would have been impossible with my interfering mother. It was nice to be alone, to not have to look and act pleased, a relief to stand by the window and let a few tears escape. I would save my crying jag for bedtime, when I would have to think of the coming days.

Forks High School had a frightening number of three hundred and fifty-seven, now three hundred and fifty-eight, students. There had been more than seven hundred in my class alone back in Phoenix. All of the kids in Forks had grown up together; their grandparents had been toddlers together. I would be the only new girl form a big city, a curiosity.

A freak.

I'd never fit in anywhere I;'d been. I should be tan, sporty, blonde, a volleyball player or a cheerleader, perhaps, all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.

Instead, I was ivory skinned, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but I wasn't an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself and harming both myself and anyone who stood too close.

When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel.

Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I would never fit in. If I couldn't find a niche in a school with nearly three thousand people, how was I going to find anyone to be my friend here?

I didn't relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people period. Even my mother was never on the same page with me. Sometimes I wondered if the world was seeing things the way I saw them. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.

The cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would just be the beginning.

^_^

I didn't sleep well that night, even after I was done crying. The rain was distracting me, and I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain had settled into a quiet drizzle.

Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia seeping in. This place was like a cage. You could never see the sky.

Breakfast was a quiet event. Charlie had left just after I'd come down and wished me a good day at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me.

I didn't want to be too early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket, necessary, in this weather, and headed out into the rain.

It was still drizzling, not enough to soak me through immediately, as I walked to the truck after locking up the house behind me. I missed the crunch of gravel as I slipped and slid down the path to my truck.

It was nice and dry inside the cabin of the truck. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but it still smelled like tobacco, gasoline and peppermint. The engine started quickly but loudly, startling me quite a bit.

FInding the school wasn't difficult., despite the fact that I'd never been there before. It was right off the highway, like most other things in Forks.

I parked in front of the first building I saw, which had a small sign over the door that read Front Office. I went inside, and a redheaded woman looked up. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Isabella Swan," I told her. I could tell by the light in her eyes that she recognized me.

"Of course," she said. She handed me a stack of papers. "I have your schedule here, and a map of the school. She went through my classes for me, drawing with her finger the best way to get from class to class.

When I left the office, other people were starting to arrive. Luckily, I had parked in a spot reserved for students, despite the location, and started the walk to my first class. I was glad to see that my ancient truck didn't stand out here, that the nicest car was a silver Volvo.

I pulled my face deep into my hood as I walked through the crowds of teenagers. My black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with no small amount of relief.

I followed two unisex raincoats into the building marked "3" and breathed a sigh of relief at the heat inside. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, a porcelain-colored blonde, possibly the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen in my life, with full red lips and a model's body, and a little dark-haired girl with pixie-like features. They both looked over their shoulders at me, and the dark-haired girl smiled.

I saw the dark haired girl conversing with a boy with bronze hair in my next class. The beautiful blonde was nowhere in sight. "You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" a boy with skin problems and jet black hair asked me, startling me.

"Bella," I corrected. The dark-haired girl and the bronze-haired boy both looked at me, interested.

"Where's your next class?" the boy asked.

"Government, I think."

"I'm headed to that building, I could show you over there."

"I'm in that class," a light, airy voice interrupted. I looked over and saw that the dark-haired girl was smiling at me directly. "I'm Alice Brandon."

"Bella Swan," I replied, smiling hesitantly at her.

"I have Government next, also. I could should you?"

"That would be great, thanks," I replied, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. Alice went back to conversing in whispers with the boy at her side. I stole glances at her and the boy the whole period. They didn't seem to be paying much attention, but whenever the teacher asked a question of either of them, they answered easily.

When the bell rang, Alice appeared at my side. We got our jackets and headed into the rain, which had picked up. It felt like people were walking close enough to us to overhear what we were saying. I almost wished it was true and I wasn't paranoid.

"So, this is different from Phoenix," Alice said.

"Very."

"It doesn't rain there much, does it?"

"Three or four times a year."

"I wonder that that's like," she said softly.

"Sunny."

"You don't look very tan."

"My mother is part albino."

Alice grinned in appreciation of my joke, and I smiled back a little, glad she'd gotten my hint of sarcasm.

We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Alice walked me into class and took off her coat. "Well, good luck," she said, going to sit on the other side of the classroom.

I smiled at her vaguely.

After three classes at Forks High, I started to notice some of the people in my classes. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and as me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot. At least I never needed the map.

One girl sat beside me in Government, Trig and SPanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria at lunch, introducing herself as Jessica. We sat with her friends after going through the lunch line, and she introduced me.

It was then that I saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them, including Alice and the blonde girl she'd been with that morning. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me like most of the others in the room, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught my attention.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big, muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was lanky, less bulky, with untidy bronze hair. I recognized him from my second class of the morning. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college. The last boy was taller than the others, leaner, but still very muscular, and honey blonde.

The girls were opposites, and I'd seen them before. The tall one was statuesque. SHe had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of swimsuit magazines, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The short girl, Alice, was pixie-like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, something I hadn't noticed earlier in the day, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. THey all had very dark eyes in spite of the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes, purplish, bruise-like shadows, as if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering form a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.

But this was not why I couldn't look away. I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. THey were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful, maybe the perfect blonde girl, or the blond boy.

They were all looking away, away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular, as far as I could tell. As I watched, Alice rose with her tray, unopened soda, unbitten apple, and walked away with a quick graceful lope that belonged on the runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, still unchanging.

"Who are they?" I asked Jessica.

As she looked up to see who I meant, though already probably knowing from my tone, suddenly he looked at her, the tallest one, the blond boy. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.

He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest.

My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did. "That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Brandon; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said it all under her breath.

I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. THe other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.

Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue here, small town names? But then I remembered Jessica. There were two in my History class back home.

"They're very...nice looking," I said, struggling with the conspicuous understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together, though...Emmett and Rosalie, and Alice and Edward, I mean. And they live together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it was cause gossip.

"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related."

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, Rosalie's older, the blondes, and they're foster children. Alice is, too."

"They look too old to be foster children."

"They are now. Rosalie is eighteen and Jasper and Alice are seventeen, but the Hales have been with Mrs. Cullen for ten years or so. She's their aunt or something. Alice is Dr. Cullen's cousin's daughter, I think."

"That's really kind of nice, for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids though," she added, as though that lessened their kindness.

THroughout this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. THey continued to look at the walls and not eat.

"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.

"No," she said in a voice that implied that it should be obvious even to a new arrival like me. They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."

I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer around her, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard.

As I examined them, the blond boy, Jasper Hale, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.

"Jasper Hale is the blond boy?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today. He had a slightly frustrated look on his face. I looked down again.

"Yes, that's Jasper. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good enough for him." SHe sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.

I bit my cheek to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too. After a few more minutes, the four of them left together. They were all noticeably graceful, even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Jasper didn't look at me again.

I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology with me next hour. We walked to class together in silence.

When we entered the classroom, she sat down at a black-topped table. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Jasper Hale because of his honey blonde curls. I walked down the aisle and introduced myself to the teacher. he sent me to the only empty seat in the room, the one by Jasper. As I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his chair and looked at me sharply. I noticed that his eyes were a pure, coal black.

He remained rigid in his chair, gripping the underside of the table. "Are you all right?" I asked him quietly.

"Fine," he replied through clenched teeth. It looked like he wasn't breathing. "Mr. Banner?" he called, raising one of his hands. "I feel sick. Can I go to the nurse?"

"Of course, Mr. Hale."

Jasper stood up and left the room, gathering up his books with one large hand. I sank back into my chair. I was uninterested in the lesson. I'd learned all of this in Phoenix. I tried not to cry at the perceived abandonment, and jumped when the bell rang.

A boy approached me, a cute baby-faced boy with pale blond hair spiked with gel. "Hey, I'm Mike. Mike Newton."

"Bella Swan."

"Do you need help finding your next class?"

"I think I can find it. It's the gym."

"That's where I'm headed." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't a coincidence in a school this small.

He was a chatterer, as I found on my way to class. He supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me, so I just listened. "So, did you stab Jasper Hale with a pencil or something? I've never seen him act like that."

I cringed. So I wasn't the only one to notice Jasper's weird behavior. "Was that who I was sitting next to?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Yes. He looked like he was in pain or something."

"When he left he said he was sick. That's all I heard." I smiled briefly at him before entering the girls' locker room.

After school, I walked back to my car, and nearly ran into Jasper talking with Alice. "I need to transfer," he said heatedly.

"You'll be fine," she said, touching his arm. "I've seen it." She looked past him and saw me. "Hi, Bella."

Jasper's body stiffened. I bit my lip and walked as quickly as I could past them without saying anything to Alice. I got in my truck and headed back to Charlie's, fighting tears the whole way.

**I hope you enjoyed it. I'm updating as I write, so I'm sure the updates will be unpredictable. :)**


	2. Open Book

**I got this chapter out quickly, but that's it for tonight. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2. Open Book

The next day was better and worse. Better because it wasn't raining yet, worse because I was still tired and hadn't gotten enough sleep.

I made it through the day with minor mishaps like tripping over my own feet in class and in the lunch line. My gaze automatically went to the table in the corner. The Cullens, Hales and Alice were all sitting there, once again not eating, not looking at each other. Alice and Jasper were looking at me. When they saw me glance back, the turned to each other and put their heads together, murmuring so quietly their lips hardly moved.

When the bell rang, I was safely inside the classroom, and Jasper had just appeared, looking like a blond god. He was so graceful in all of his movements. He smiled hesitantly at me, and I smiled back.

"I'm Jasper," he said, sitting next to me.

"Bella."

"I know." He looked much less pale than yesterday, and the circles under his eyes didn't seem so pronounced.

That was all that was said the entire hour.

That night, I spoke to Charlie about my new friends. "I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her and her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice."

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid, nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town."

"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

"They...the kids...are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."

Charlie surprised me by looking angry.

"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder.

"We're lucky to have him, lucky his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature. I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who've lived in this town for generations. And they stick together in the way a family should."

I backpedaled. "They seemed nice enough to me."

The next day, Mike walked me to lunch. "Wow, it's snowing," he said.

I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and the buildings. "Ew." Snow. There went my good day.

Mike looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"

"No. It means it's too cold to rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes, you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips.

"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure I have. On TV."

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking as I spoke. "Once people start throwing the wet stuff, I go inside."

Mike nodded, eyes on someone's retreating figure. I kept my binder in my hand, ready to use it as a shield if necessary.

My eyes immediately drifted to the table in the corner after I got my food and sat beside Jessica and Mike. The entire table was laughing. Edward, Jasper and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else, only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the the rest of us.

But, aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Jasper most carefully. His skin was even less pale today, I decided, flushed from the snow fight, maybe, the circles under his eyes much less noticeable. But there was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica asked me. At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.

I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look at all harsh or unfriendly like the day we'd met.

"Jasper Hale is staring at you," Jessica said, giggling in my ear.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No. Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I still felt queasy. I put my head down on my arm.

"The Cullens don't like anybody...well, they don't notice anyone enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him," I hissed.

She snickered, but she looked away. I made sure, lifting my head just enough.

When I got to my classroom, my table was empty, I noticed with relief. I kept my gaze away from the door, doodling with my finger on the cover of my notebook.

"Hello," a voice said, and the chair next to me moved.

I looked up at the sound of the deep voice, a Southern twang built in. "Hi."

We had a lab that day. Jasper and I got through it quickly, identifying all of our slides before anyone else was remotely close.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Jasper asked quietly. It felt like he was forcing himself to make small talk with me.

"Not really," I answered honestly.

"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.

"Or the wet."

"Forks must be a difficult place to live in, then," he mused.

"You've no idea."

He looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn't imagine. His face was such a distraction that I tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded.

"Why did you come here, then?"

"It's complicated."

"I can keep up."

"My mother got remarried," I said after a pause.

"And you don't like the guy." Once again, not a question.

"No, that's not it at all. She missed him when he went out of town to play baseball, strictly minor league, and so I decided to come up here and spend time with Charlie instead."

"And now you're unhappy."

"And?"

"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged slightly, but his eyes were still intense.

"Life isn't fair."

He sat silently for a minute, and then said, "You put on a good show. But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

I grimaced. He knew exactly what was going on inside my head. "Am I wrong?" he asked.

I tried to ignore him, all to no avail.

"I didn't think so."

"What does it matter to you?" I asked, irritated. I kept my eyes away.

"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly I don't think he meant me to hear him.

I sighed loudly. "Am I bothering you?" he asked.

"I'm bothering myself," I replied. "My face is so easy to read. My mother always calls me her open book."

"On the contrary, I find you particularly hard to read." He sounded like he meant it.

"You must be a good reader then," I said.

He smiled a little. "Usually."

When the bell rang a few minutes later, Jasper rushed as swiftly and gracefully from the room as he had the last two days. I stared after him in amazement.

"That was awful," Mike groaned, coming up to me.

"I had no trouble," I replied absently.

"Hale seemed friendly enough today," he noticed, slightly stung by my comment.

"I wonder what was wrong with him the other day," I said. I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to gym, and it didn't do much to hold my attention, either.

The rain was just a mist when I walked out to my truck, but I was happier when I was in the dry cab. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry it out on the way home.

I looked around to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Jasper Hale was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from me, and staring intently in my direction. I swiftly looked away and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste. Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on the brake just in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make into scrap metal. I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I would swear I saw him chuckle.

**I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!**


	3. Phenomenon

Here's Chapter 3. I know it's a lot like Twilight right now, but I promise it'll start to change now. It will eventually only parallel Twilight. I own none of these characters, or the plot right now. I just own the computer I'm writing this on.

**Chapter 3. Phenomenon**

When I opened my eyes in the morning, I realized there was no fog veiling my window. I jumped up in excitement, and groaned when I saw the fine layer of snow covering the ground. All the rain from yesterday had frozen on the ground and made the driveway into an ice slick.

Charlie had been nice enough to put snow chains on my tires, I found when I walked outside. I drove to school and stepped out of the truck. As I was going around the back, I heard a high-pitched screech getting louder and louder.

Nothing was moving in slow motion, like in movies. Instead, adrenaline was making my brain work so quickly that I could see every detail of everything.

Jasper Hale was standing four cars down from me, staring at me in horror. Alice was standing next to him, her hand on his arm like she was holding him back. Their faces stood out in a sea of shocked faces.

The van was coming toward my truck, and I was too frozen to move. Something hit my side, hard, but it wasn't the van. A hand cradled my skull before it hit the icy pavement, and then there was something cold pinning me to the ground.

The van had curled along the side of the truck and was coming at me still. A low oath made me realize that there was, indeed, someone with me. A long arm and white hand stretched out in front of me, and the van stopped a few inches from my face, the large hand fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the van's body.

The hand moved quickly, blurring in my vision. I was being dragged away as the hand held up the van. A groaning sound hurt my ears, and the van settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt, right where my legs had been.

It was absolutely quiet for one long second before the screaming began. I could hear more than one person shouting my name. I looked up to see who was with me, and saw Jasper Hale. "Bella," he said frantically. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." My voice sounded strange. I tried to sit up; he was still holding onto me. He brought me against him in a bone-crushing hug. "How did you get over here so fast?" I asked.

"I was...I was standing right next to you." His deep voice was serious, and there was a crease in his brow that marked his concern.

I started to sit up, and he let me, propping up my back. I stared into gold colored eyes and forgot what I was asking him.

"Don't move!" someone shouted.

"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else said. There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to stand, but Jasper's hand kept me down.

"No, just wait a moment," he said.

"I saw you by your car," I told him. "You were over there."

"No, I wasn't," he said seriously.

"I saw you."

"Bella, please," he said, golden eyes pleading.

"Why?"

"Please trust me."

"Promise you'll explain everything later."

"I promise."

It took a while to get to the hospital, with all the people crowding around us, and my father showing up and nearly fainting when he saw me.

I couldn't stop playing the incident in my mind. Jasper had been by his car, then he had been with me, his large hand cradling my head, protecting me not only from the oncoming van, but the icy pavement as well. I tried to think of something logical, but I couldn't. My brain knew what it had seen.

They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separate by pastel colored curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Jasper sat next to me on a chair, watching this procedure.

Tyler, the driver of the van, was wheeled in next to me. "Bella, I'm so sorry." He glanced at Jasper, but didn't say anything.

"You missed me," I said. "Jasper pulled me out of the way."

"Jasper?" Tyler's gaze flew to Jasper again, and Jasper shrugged. "Man, I'm so sorry."

"No blood no foul," he replied, smiling. He looked down at me. "So what's the verdict?"

"There's nothing wrong with me, but they won't let me go. Why aren't you strapped to a gurney?"

"It's all about who you know. But don't worry, I'll spring you."

The doctor walked around the corner, and Jasper stood up. My mouth fell open. He was young, he was blond, and he was more handsome than any movie star I'd ever seen. He was pale, though, and tired looking, with circles under his eyes. He bore a shocking resemblance to Jasper, with the blond hair and pale skin.

"So, Miss Swan," he said. "I'm Dr. Cullen. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Can I leave now?"

He raised an eyebrow, and then turned to the X-Rays on the wall. "Your X-Rays look good. Your father is in the waiting room. You can go home with him. But come back if you start to feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyes at all."

I nodded. "Can I go back to school?"

Dr. Cullen looked surprised. "You should probably take it easy today."

I glanced over at Jasper, who was staring at me with unfathomable golden eyes. "Does he get to go back to school?"

"Someone has to tell everyone we survived," he said, but didn't crack a smile.

"Well, the majority of your class seems to be in the waiting room," Dr. Cullen corrected.

I groaned. "Great." I covered my face with my hands and tried to breathe normally.

"Would you rather stay?" Dr. Cullen asked, raising his eyebrows again.

"No!" I replied, shaking my head. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and hopped down. My head swam for a few seconds, and I shook my head to clear it. "I'm fine."

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," the doctor suggested as I began walking away.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," I insisted.

"Well, then you were very lucky," Dr. Cullen said, grinning.

"Lucky Jasper was there," I said softly, glancing up at Jasper. The planes of his face were hard, and his eyes held an emotion I didn't recognize.

"Oh," Dr. Cullen said. "Well, yes, that is lucky." He looked at my charts, and then over at Tyler. I grimaced. He was definitely in on it.

I moved to Jasper's side. "Can we talk a minute?" I asked.

Jasper didn't even look at me. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Yes, there is. I'll say what I have to say here, or we can talk somewhere privately."

He glanced down at me, jaw clenched. "Your father is waiting for you."

"He can wait a minute longer."

Jasper glared at me and strode down the hall. I was trotting to keep up with him. As soon as we turned the corner down the hallway, he stopped, and I ran into him. "Sorry," I said, stepping back.

"What do you want?" he asked severely. His eyes were cold.

"You owe me an explanation."

"I don't owe you anything," he replied.

I flinched. "You promised."

"I'd rather save my promise for another day, if you don't mind."

"Are you intending on keeping it?"

"Eventually."

"I want to know the truth," I said stubbornly.

"In due time, Bella," Jasper snapped. "You can't always get what you want."

"Look, Jasper. All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me, I heard Tyler's tires screeching, and then you were there. The van would have crushed us both, but it didn't. Your hand left a dent in the side of it, and then you pulled me from under the van." I could hear how crazy it sounded, and I stopped. Angry tears came to my eyes, and I prayed they wouldn't fall.

His face was tense. "Go to your father," he said angrily. "No one will believe you if you say anything."

I stared at him, shocked. "I wasn't going to say anything," I told him truthfully.

"So why does it matter so much? Can't you just thank me and get over it?"

"Thank you," I said in a rush. "I still want to know the truth."

"And you won't let it go?"

I shook my head. "Not at all."

He sighed. "I already promised to tell you everything. Just not now." He strode away from me quickly, and I sighed.

I walked slowly to the end of the hall and went out into the waiting room. It seemed like every face I knew was in there, staring at me. I put my hands up when Charlie stood next to me. "I'm fine," I told them all. I was not in the mood for chitchat.

"What did the doctor say?"

"Dr. Cullen said I was fine and I could go home. Let's go."

Charlie led me out with a hand on my back. I waved at my friends and went with him, glad to escape them. Out in the parking lot, Jasper was standing with Alice and Edward, and they were talking in hushed tones. Edward looked over at me and narrowed his eyes, and Alice hit his arm lightly to get him to look at her. She sent me an apologetic smile, and I waved at her.

Charlie and I drove home in silence. I was wrapped up in Jasper's expression, in the words he'd said to me. He told me he would tell me everything eventually. I just didn't know when eventually was.

When we got to the house, Charlie finally spoke. "You might want to call Renee." He hung his head guiltily.

"You told Mom?" I was resigned to it. I figured he would have called her.

"Sorry."

I got out of the cruiser and walked into the house. My mom was in hysterics, naturally. I had to tell her I was fine about thirty times before she believed me. She begged me to come home, even though she forgot that she wasn't at home, but her pleas fell of deaf ears. I was consumed by the mystery Jasper presented. And more than a little obsessed with Jasper himself. It was stupid, I told myself. Utterly stupid.

I decided to go to bed early that night. Charlie was watching me anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves. I took three Tylenol before bed, and drifted off to sleep as they helped.

That was the first night I dreamed of Jasper Hale.

**I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!**


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